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After todays ride I am questioning whether or not cliplesss is the way to go. I fell over six times today! I was riding in a lot of deep sand and could not get my feet out of the pedals. Now I am a balanced challenged noob, but this is ridiculous. I can appreciate the advantage of spinning circles as opposed to just pushing down but my hip is not so sure.

Is this a skill that you were able to acquire or did you just say to hell with it?

My last ride was a little better. I only did the slow motion fall over, once!

I did crash into a chainlink fence on a short technical down hill running next to the trail. I prolly could have rode it out but I panicked when I missed a dab with my foot because it didn't come out of the pedal. I chose the non cactus infested line. The fork bottomed on the big rock but prolly kept my ass from sailing over my head. My shoulder took the hit as I contacted the fence at an angle. The diamond shaped bruises look kinda weird.

My balance is improving. I can tell just riding the white line on the road. Especially at slow speeds. Where last week I would zig zag all over, now I can almost stay within th edges of the line.

I will stick with it. I just find it unnerving to not hang the leg out for balance help sometimes.

For those that do use these pedals: Is it just second nature when you ride to release for a foot dab? You do it without thinking? Or do you still go down occasionally because of it?

I just fell over yesterday after a couple of years. I had to laugh at myself. Like everyone has said hang in there. After a while it's second nature.
I didn't see anyone mention to loosen the tension screws.

stick with it, you get much better on the bike. The first dozen times or so i rode with them it was awkward, now i cant ride w/o them. you will find you can push the bike alot farther and learn the limits of how far you can push it too.

I love being able to be 1 with the bike.

the only part i hate is when i ride my bike just around (like to class) the pedals are real small and roll,, that took alot of getting used to.

I have a sweet scar on the back of my leg from when i was learning to ride with them... like i said you learn fast

get some of the Shimano pedals with the cage around them. I think the ones i have are 636s (?). When i go to class and just around town and stuff i can wear tennis shoes no problem because they're basically just like flats. They also are much better to learn on because you have enough pedal to get yourself moving even if youre not clipped in. Really the best thing you can do is master the trackstand. If you can just balance yourself on your bike you won't have to worry too much about getting out.

I think clips are okay. Definitely for the power gain. You get that whole extra stroke of pulling up with the pedal instead of just pushing down.
It is going to take a while to get used to and once you become familiar with clipping in and out it should be no problem. I know it's kind of hard to tell when you are going to fall, but if you can, clip out as soon as possible. Practice if you need to, it will be a whole lot easier and better if you do.

I have the Shimano pedals with the cage that you can ride in tennis shoes with. Good for the trips around the block with the kids.

I tried unclipping before the bad stuff so I don't have to worry about getting out of them. This is probably even worse though. The hard soles of the shoes slide around on the pedals.
I need to quit being a puss and give in to the dark side. Keep the damn things attached and enjoy those mouthfuls of dirt!

I learned something new today. Use the front disc brake very lightly when going downhill .

I have the Shimano pedals with the cage that you can ride in tennis shoes with. Good for the trips around the block with the kids.

I tried unclipping before the bad stuff so I don't have to worry about getting out of them. This is probably even worse though. The hard soles of the shoes slide around on the pedals.
I need to quit being a puss and give in to the dark side. Keep the damn things attached and enjoy those mouthfuls of dirt!

I learned something new today. Use the front disc brake very lightly when going downhill .

I used to go back an forth when riding with them. Much better to just stick with it and stop thinking about it. I only fell when things were getting scarey because I thought, "uh oh, better clip out...oh no...I can't...ahhhhhhh"

Originally posted by BigHG
I learned something new today. Use the front disc brake very lightly when going downhill .

it's off-topic, but that's completely wrong. You should be using MOSTLY your front brake going downhill. Shift your weight back (get your ass behind the saddle) and that way you won't fly over the handlebars. When going downhill you have very little weight on your rear tire and therefore your rear brakes are nearly worthless.

Steve, you are absolutely right. Believe it or not I did know that before I did it. But not having much experience with the "hit" that disks have, I instinctively grabbed a handful, didn't expect the wheel to stop turning and launched!

Go clipless for xc. But stay away from the sick drops. For that get the platforms.

BTW they make these little plastic inserts for clipless that turns them into a platform. My LBS gives them away. Good for just putting around on but nothing more.

I feel your pain with the disk brakes. I went from a rigid bike with old school cantalever brakes and toe clips to a fs bike with disks and clipless. The disks stop NOW. I don't entirely agree with the front brake only thing, though. I use both so long as I can keep the back from skidding.

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